Bollywood: Often Energetic, Now Animated

Roadside Romeo

With the animated dog’s-life feature “Roadside Romeo,” Bollywood continues its technological juggernaut. A co-production of Yash Raj Films and Walt Disney Pictures, “Romeo” is something new under the Indian sun: sophisticated computer-generated animation that uses stars to voice the characters. But craftsmanship and Disney aside, “Romeo” is very much a conventional Hindi movie with a small-guys-versus-gangsters plot, song-and-dance sequences and film references galore.

Romeo, a honey-colored pup living on the Mumbai streets, has the voice of Saif Ali Khan, and he’s a typical Khan character, a Westernized sweet-talker with a propensity to start every sentence with “Dude” and “O.K. guys.” His idea for financial uplift? Open a hair salon, which he does with his crew of Bollywood-savvy mutts. (The uninitiated needn’t worry; the subtitles let no reference go unparsed, as in “Imitating Shah Rukh Khan” after a line of dialogue.) Trouble occurs when the gang runs afoul of Charlie Anna (Jaaved Jaaferi), the big don dog, who loves Laila (Kareena Kapoor), the same fluffy white creature with dreadful pink eye shadow that Romeo adores.

Written and directed by Jugal Hansraj, “Roadside Romeo” may have its stars’ voices, but what it needs is their bodies. Perhaps Bollywood’s most ingratiating quality is how hard the actors work to entertain you: they dance, they cry, they risk appearing silly. The animated dogs in “Romeo” aren’t particularly appealing. They mostly walk on two legs and, unlike Disney characters, don’t wear anything beyond neck gear. They look oddly naked and move awkwardly, which flattens the dance sequences and keeps the film earthbound.

And for all the movie-making know-how on display, “Romeo” isn’t visually attractive, though there are some nice touches: a dingy, spit-splattered “No spitting sign”; a beautifully detailed train; and peeling movie posters with images of larger-than-life stars, reminding us of Bollywood’s true glory.